Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Hmm, 8 weeks of reports. Things are definitely going to be left out and times will be guesses.

Football Manager 2012 (120h) - Boston Utd (League 2: 2nd) - Got a hankering for Management again and fired up the 2012 version I picked up a while back when it was on sale. 6 months unemployed to let the game settle, then accepted the first offer coming my way: Boston United in Conference North. Got them into the Playoffs that year, but didn't have the firepower to go up.

Next year was a completely revamped team and we finished 2nd only to be knocked out again in the 1st round of the playoffs. 3rd year we picked up another couple of gems and wouldn't settle for anything other than automatic promotion. We finished the season on 95 points, 15 clear of our nearest rival.

Last season we were to bravely fight relegation, but after a mid-tier start, the team found their form and we moved up the ladder. Even I was a little suprised that we took over 1st, but the confidence in the team and our attacking style seemed to be working well. We've been having a poor showing in the cups, and with the League Trophy nearly in our grasp, we lose out in the quarter finals to an equally impressive FC Halifax who have risen along with us out of Conference North. Final game of the season and we're 1 point ahead. The stands are packed to see us win 2-1 and advance once again into the professional league.

Currently 4 games in with a somewhat understrength side. Hoping for mid table or possibly playoffs while the squad and stadium catch up to our rapid rise.

Kongregate: Berserk Cataclysm (40h) - An autoplay CCG with some interesting deck building choices. Cards are dribbled out fairly regularly to build some different decks, but the obvious advantages of rares over commons means that gaining cards is like levelling up. Unfortunately this leads into a direct pay-to-win option as the best cards are exclusively via the paid service, and having thousands of cards right off the bat is even more useful for the competitive side of the game.

World of Tanks (10h) - Some LAN attempts, but the 2-person platoon limiter is really pretty ordinary for any coordinated action.

Stronghold
Kingdoms (10h) - Big long stints with nothing. Game over I'd say.

Kongregate: Chronicles of Blood (10h) - Veeyar 9 - fB game converted to Kongregate. Probably the best feeling action-point limited game I've played. Drop rates and proc rates are varied and I think I'm finally coming to an effective overall strategy with mostly PvP and some PvB planned.

Kongregate: assorted (10h)
- Some new things appearing on Kong, but it still feels like it's playing second fiddle to fB and iOS

League of Legends (10h) - LANs and first wins.

Diablo
III (5h) - Real money auction house is out now, but I can't see any evidence of anything selling on there. With Blizzard charging at least a $1 service fee per transation, I would say that its usefulness will be pretty bad for the general public. In beta people had a starting credit as well. I think this would have been a good choice to loosen up the AH. If there's no trading, then people are less likely to post stuff, then there's less liklihood of trades, etc. It has a real chance to turn into a ghost town.